Inventor cited on this application co-invented a very popular toy called WETHEAD (U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,680) that emits water as one of numerous plastic rods is manually removed to release stored water onto a wearer's head. Said patent is long-expired, and yet the toy WETHEAD continues to be a worldwide sales success. There is no disclosure nor anticipation of usage of any remote signal activation of water release. Typically gameplay involves the wearer of the device randomly selecting and then physically removing the release rod from his own hat as the result of a gameplay directive, such as a spinner. Alternative play, where another player physically removes a rod from a wearer's hat still requires physical contact and manual means to activate water release.
In 1998 a company called Toymax marketed a line of products called Laser Challenge that involved two or more players holding blaster-guns emitting infrared signals in the direction of an opponent. Each player also wore a vest that included an infrared receiver. When a signal from another player's gun was received by the receiver in a player's vest, score would be made and a sound would be emitted. One model of toy in that product line was called Cyber Splash Laser Challenge. It included a water container and a battery operated pump mechanism that sprayed water upward towards the face and chin of the player after a series of signals were received by the infrared receiver on the vest. Each player therefore held a blaster gun and wore a vest and water sprayed upward.
A product was marketed in the past that was based upon several patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,722,660 and 5,992,853 “GAME WITH TIMED WATER RELEASE”) by the inventor of this application. IN YOUR FACE is a multi-player game wherein one player stands in the center of a group of players and asks a question that must be acceptably answered, in turn, by each other player, all who are sitting in a circle. The player asking the question is holding a motorized timer and spray emitting game unit, and presses or releases a trigger to set or reset a timer. When a seated player answers unacceptably or does not answer in time, a spray is emitted from the game unit and sprays towards that player. The product did not incorporate any signal sending or receiving means, and was not intended to be worn by anyone.
In 1989 Pressman Toy Corporation released a product called HYDRO-STRIKE. It was a skill and action game, without any electronics or signal sending/receiving. There are no separate units to the game. Nothing is worn by a player. It is described in this manner: “Players sit at either end of the plastic board controlling two flippers with a goal in between them. A marble is released, and players try to shoot it into their opponent's goal. When a goal is scored, a jet of water shoots out spraying the losing player. No batteries are needed—just fill the tank with water and pump up the pressure”. There is no timed nor electronic activation, and water release is the mechanical response of a ball striking a trigger mechanism.
Other toys have successfully provided children with the entertainment of getting wet in a competitive play situation. Inventor cited in this application also invented CONTACT ACTIVATED PRESSURIZED WATER RELEASE TOY, U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,099. That invention resembles a handheld toy sword and requires one player to press a release valve at the front end of the toy onto the body of an opponent. There is no provision for remote signal-activated water release, nor for any interactive gameplay between players, other than physical contact.
Hasbro introduced a product in late 2016 called DUNK HAT. This toy has a water container situated atop one player's head, and two target plates, one on each side of the hat. Other players throw balls at the hat, trying to hit one of the plates, to activate the release of water onto the head of the player wearing the hat. There are no electronics, no sending of receiving of signals. This product requires that the wearer stand in position while objects are being thrown towards the target plates by other children, often with poor aim. The product provides a clear plastic eye shield panel to protect the wearer of the toy from being struck by a projectile.
Further, headsets have been tethered to laser tag guns. Some professional laser tag parks will provide a piezo speaker in a head-worn unit that can buzz to mildly irritate a player when they get “shot” by an opponent's light beam. There is no provision for water release onto the head of a player when they are struck by an opponent's light beam.
In addition, Hasbro (and before them, Milton Bradley Company) for many years has marketed an electronic console game called “SIMON” (1978) that requires players to push buttons in response to a programmed light sequence displayed by inner circuitry. Innumerable similar games requiring players to respond to a light-illumination sequence by pressing a button or in some other fashion activating a switch, have also been on the market, Atari's “TOUCH ME” (1974) game being a handheld example that admittedly inspired “SIMON” and then other games like Castle Toy's “EINSTEIN” (1979) and more recently Mattel's “LOOPZ” game (released in the 2000's) that provides a unique added feature of players passing their hands and arms through motion-sensing areas (to activate switches) in response to a timed light sequence. None of the prior art hints at or involves a water penalty, particularly a water penalty initiated by a signal from the play device to activate a release of water, from another playset component, onto the head of a player.